Germany presses US to clear up latest espionage claims

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's Foreign Ministry says a senior official has called the U.S. ambassador to press for Washington to clear up allegations that the country's foreign minister was a target of eavesdropping.

Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said that Stephan Steinlein, a deputy foreign minister, spoke with Ambassador John B. Emerson on Tuesday — the day after WikiLeaks published a document it claimed was a summary of a 2005 conversation Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had following a trip to the U.S.

Schaefer said Wednesday that Steinlein pushed for Germany to be given "the necessary clarification and explanation of this and all other cases that are still open."

Three weeks ago, Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff met with Emerson after a previous WikiLeaks report on alleged spying.